Opening and push up cigarette container



July 12, 1935 B. FRlscHER ETAL 3,260,405

OPENING AND PUSH UP CIGARETTE CONTAINER Filed Feb. 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l frau*- 6'6 BOBERT FRASCHER d AFD/WS.

July 12, 1966 B. FRlscHER ETAL OPENING AND PUSH UP CIGARETTE CONTAINER Fild Feb. 2o, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVEN TOR. .BLANCHE FFISCHER ROBERT FR/.SCHER AR/v 5.

United States Patent O 3,260,405 OPENING AND PUSH UP CIGARETTE CONTAINER Blanche Frischer and Robert Frischer, both of 110 E. 36th St., New York, N.Y. Filed Feb. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 346,237 1 Claim. (Cl. 22132) This invention relates generally to cigarette packages and more particularly to new and useful improvements in a cigarette package of the sealed wrap-around type.

Cigarette packages are usually sealed by an outer wrapper making it very diflicult to open the package. Usually the material of the package is torn by the ngers of the user at one corner of the package and the material pushed aside to expose the tops of the cigarettes which are usually packed in rows. However, because of the tight packing of the cigarettes, it is ditiicult to get the fingers .around the top of a cigarette in order to extract it from the package. Usually the bottom of the package is tapped beneath the end cigarette in a row until such cigarette is loosened and extends outwardly of the other cigarette in position to be grasped by the fingers.

With this in mind, we have devised a cigarette package of the wrap-around type wherein the top of the package is readily opened and during the same operation a cigarette is pulled outwardly to a position where it can be readily grasped by the fingers of the user and removed for smoking.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette package with a tear strip positioned inside the package and available from the outside so as to tear the top of the package for opening the same and in the same operation lift a cigarette outwardly of the other cigarettes in the package in position to be grapsed by the fingers of the user for extraction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cigarette package that is simple in construction, economical to manufacture and highly eicient Ifor the purposes intended.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the object-s and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a cigarette package embodying one form of the invention, parts being shown broken away.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the body of the package is made.

FIG. 3 is a similar View showing the tear strip in posiytion before the blank is folded.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. l.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the top end of the cigarette package with a ilap turned back.

FIG. 6 is a similar view showing a step in the opening of the package.

FIG. 7 is -a front elevational View of the cigarette package of FIG. l in open condition, parts being broken away to show the extraction of a cigarette.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top perspective view of a modied form `of opening and lifting strip; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tea-r strip having i integral cutting elements formed thereon.

Referring now in detail to the various views of the drawings, in FIG. l, a cigarette package made in accordance with the invention is shown and designated generally at 10. The cigarette package 10 comprises a hollow rectangular-shaped body 12 of paper containing cigarettes 14 and a transparent cover 15 of cellophane or the like. An internal revenue stamp 17 is shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, sealing the top of the package.

The body 12 of the package is formed of a single rectangular sheet 16 of paper shown in FIG. 2. The sheet is adapted to be folded along the horizontal long lines 18 and 20 to shape partly the flaps 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 constituting the top of the body of the package, and the fla-ps 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, constituting the bottom of the body. The sheet is adapted to be folded along the transverse lines 42, 44, 46, 48, to form the front panel 50, side panels 52, 52, and rear panel sections 54, 56 of the body of the package. A slot 58 is cut in the sheet `across the flap 26 intersecting the long edge 60 of the sheet, and a similar slot 62 is cut in the sheet across flap 30 intersecting the same long edge 60.

A perforated line 64 is formed in the sheet along the line 18 extending from the slot 58 to the slot 62. An elongated ribbon-like tear strip 66 of fabric is arranged atwise starting with one end 68 on the ap 36 adjacent its juncture to flap 34, extending along said flap 36 over the `line 46 to flap 38 where it is given a half-twist and changes directions, extending along the adjacent side panel 52 to a point adjacent the other end thereof Where it is given a half-twist extending backwardly diagonally across the top of front panel 50 to the line 18 adjacent slot 58 in flap 26 where it is given a turn reversing itself in direction extending over and along the perforated line 64 to the slot 62 in flap 30, passing through the slot and underneath the flap 30 beyond the edge of said ap 30. The lstrip 66 is releasably fastened along its length, engaging the paper of the body by adhesive 70.

In shaping and assembling the sheet 16, the material of ap 38 is folded along the diagonal lines 72 to form an outer triangular-shaped iiap 74 with the apex 76 pointing inwardly toward the center of the package. The material of ap 34 is similarly folded along the lines 78 thereof forming an outer triangular-shaped flap with the apex 82 thereof pointing toward the center of the package. The overlapped flaps 32, 36, 40, 74 and 80 constitute the bottom of the package.

The material of flap 30 is folded along line 84 and the lmaterial of the flap 26 is folded along line 86 bringing the ap 30 and flap 26 partly over the flap 28. Similarly, flap 22 and flap 26 are folded along the lines 88 and 90, respectively, bringing flap 22 and flap 26 partly over flap 24. The overlapped flaps 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 constitute the top of the package.

In packaging the cigarettes 14 in the package 10, the cigarettes are placed in upright position, side by side, in three rows as shown in FIG. 6. A plurality of cigarettes in one row, four being shown in FIG. 7, are mounted with their bottom ends straddling the tear strip 66 stretched along the bottom flap 36 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7.

In using the cigarette package 10, the classification stamp 17 is first broken and manually lifted off of strip 66, exposing the free end of the tear strip 66 as shown in FIG. 5. The end of the tear strip is grasped by the fingers and pulled laterally toward the adjacent corner of the package, then along the top of the adjacent side panel 52 and then along the top of the rear panel section 30 to the slot 62. This operation cuts away the side top liap 28 and parts of ilap 26 at the front and part of iiap 30 at the rear, which, with the aligned slots 58 and 62, completely severs the entire top portion at one side of the package thereby exposing the cigarettes. When this portion has been cut away, by merely pulling upwardly on the tear strip 66 as Ishown in FIG. 7, the strip will lift a number of the end cigarettes in the row upwardly, the outermost cigarette being lifted to a position adapted ice to be grasped by the lingers of the user around the top thereof and readily extracted from the package. The other cigarettes may be manually pressed downwardly to protected position in the package until needed.

In FIG. 9, a fragment of a modified form of tear srip 66' is shown. The :strip 66 is similar to the strip 66 except that the body thereof is formed with a central row of upstanding teeth 94. When strip 66 is used it is not necessary to perforate the material of the package, the teeth 94 being adapted to tear through and cut the material to sever it from the remainder of the body of the package.

While We have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to .secure by United States Letters Patent is:

A cigarette package comprising a rectangular-shaped hollow paper body, sealed all around including the top and bottom, cigarettes packed in said body in rows, said top Ihaving spaced aligned slots thereacross and having a perforated line along portions of the edge thereof between said slots, and a flexible tear strip arranged inside the body along said perforated line, one end portion of the strip disposed downwardly along one side of the body and inwardly along the inner surface of the bottom of the body underneath the bottom ends of a number of cigarettes in one row and anchored at its bottom end to said inner surface, the other top end of the strip extending outwardly through the aligned slots for manipulating the strip, upward pulling on the tear strip adapted to tear the material of the body along the perforated line providing a top opening, continued pulling on the strip adapted to lift a number of cigarettes successively so that the upper ends thereof extend through said top opening outwardly of the package in position to be grasped by the lingers of the user for extraction from the package.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,343,360 6/1920 Frost. 2,342,646 2/1944 Crommey 206-41.2 2,789,752 4/ 1957 Will 229-51 3,097,786 7/1963 Militaria 229-51 FOREIGN PATENTS AD. 67,350 9/1957 France.

785,735 11/1957 Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Examiner.

W. T. DIXSON Assistant Examiner. 

